Radioprotective and cytoprotective activity of Tinospora cordifolia stem enriched extract containing cordifolioside-A

OBJECTIVES: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the radioprotective and cytoprotective potential of cordifolioside-A, a primary active constituent of n-butanol fraction of Tinospora Cordifolia (NBTC) against 4 Gy-γ radiation in mice and cyclophosphamide induced genotoxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Presence of cordifolioside-A in NBTC stem ethanolic extract was confirmed by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis. Radioprotective activity was evaluated at 80 and 120 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.) dose of NBTC administered 15 days prior to whole body radiation exposure by observing survival rate, change in body weight, hematology, spleen colony forming unit (CFU), and micronucleus (MN) expression. Cytoprotective activity of NBTC was evaluated at 5, 10, and 15 mg/ml concentrations on Allium cepa root meristem growth against cyclophosphamide. RESULTS: HPTLC analysis of standard cordifolioside A, and NBTC confirmed the presence of cordifolioside-A in NBTC with the retention factor value of 0.86. Administration of NBTC (120 mg/kg, i.p.) produced significant protection against radiation in terms of increased survival rate, body weight retention, hematological parameters, spleen CFU assay (P < 0.01), and decreased MN expression (P < 0.01). Cytoprotectivity was observed maximally at 10 mg/ml NBTC concentration with significant increase in root growth (P < 0.01), non-toxic mitotic index (MI) (65.9%) and lesser chromosomal aberrations (15.4%). NBTC at 10 mg/ml concentration showed very few C-anaphase compared to aberrations like fragmentation, C-anaphase, multipolarity and sticky chromosome in cyclophosphamide alone. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that enriched NBTC containing cordifolioside-A has a potential in vivo radioprotective effect as well as in vitro cytoprotective activity.